The New Hope Food Shelf opened last week at the Care and Share Center in Crookston, just as Crookston residents began feeling the effects of COVID-19 as the first executive orders from the governor went into place. Rachel LaFerriere, food shelf manager, said the food shelf has had to serve through boxes rather than letting people in, but they’ve already served nearly 200 people. “It’s going really well,” said LaFerriere. “We’ve served pretty close to 200 people, so I’m excited to see those numbers grow and get this food out to the community. We’d have liked to have a shopping experience for the clients, so they can choose the foods that are best for their families. However, at this time we are not able to have clients in our building, so we’re packing food boxes like we were with Boxes of Hope.”
LaFerriere said there has been good initial community support of the food shelf, but the one area they need help with is personal hygiene products. “We really need personal hygiene objects – soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes,” said LaFerriere. “I know toilet paper, but that’s funny, I don’t think you can get that anywhere. Things like that more so than food right now. We’ve had a lot of support in purchasing food, so I think personal hygiene items are pretty high up on our list.”
The New Hope Food Shelf is open Mondays and Wednesdays from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. and is also doing food drops Monday through Friday from 6-6:30 p.m. at the Highland Park Complex and Crookston Public Library parking lot. Gluten-free and allergy requests should be sent to Rachel LaFerriere at rachelcarenshare@outlook.com or by calling Rachel at 281-2644.
